'Four More Years' - Most Popular Tweet Ever

Social media helped shape the 2012 election in a way like never before. Here's the most popular tweet ever.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Social media has shaped our lives and changed the 2012 election and politics forever, as President Barack Obama beat Gov. Mitt Romney in Tuesday's election.

Yet a single tweet from President Obama after the election showed how powerful social media truly has become -- it's the most popular tweet of all time.

Shortly after the election was called on the major networks, President Obama's Twitter account tweeted "Four more years" and thousands of people retweeted the message as soon as it went up, becoming the most popular tweet of all time, according to BuzzFeed.

There are currently 651,855 retweets, and 221,252 favorites, as Obama won more than 52% of the popular vote and more than 270 electoral votes, the number needed to become president of the United States.

Twitter and Facebook ( FB) have played major parts in politics as politicians increasingly try to reach their constituents by any means necessary, keeping them abreast of the latest happenings and doings in Washington and their hometowns.

Though not a public company, Twitter has become the fiirst place to go for news for many people, surpassing in some ways television and other mediums as the thirst for news 24/7 becomes ever greater. Twitter may eventually go public, though CEO Dick Costolo has been coy about that timeline as the company ramps up advertising revenue.

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